Find The Perfect Smartwatch For You: ''Smartwatch Buying Guide 2021''

Smart watches are becoming more popular too! And so we’ve write this article. If you’re thinking of buying a new smart watch, then read this till the end! Because, after reading, you’ll know what you'd need to buy. And, you wouldn’t make a bad decision, that’s my guarantee! I’m going to tell you about everything in detail, so take some time & read the article. You can share it with your friends/family if they’re planning on buying one too!

Friends, first you’ll have to decide whether you want to buy an Android watch or Apple watch. Android watch has an open ecosystem, with some issues & you can buy it with a price ranging from Rs 3-30K. And you can buy according to it. The Apple watch doesn’t have many options/variants. And you’ll have to spend more money. But you get more features! The activity & health features in the Apple watch are superior to Android. So do keep that in mind! But, there’s a disadvantage with the Apple watch, you’ll soon know why. 

Budget - Keep a set budget (Rs 5K/8K/10K/15K). With so many of them, you’d definitely get one in every price range. Why Are You Taking It? - If you’re doing too many activities/exercises & need one to track them. Or, you want some connectivity with your phone. Or because it’s just the latest trend! So make note of 2-3 reasons to buy a smart watch, because it’ll make your decision easy. And another basic thing is its dial type, round or squarish like the Apple watch. In Android, you get both round as well as square dials without a problem! We have already write article on the 5 best “Under Rs 5K” & “Under Rs 10K” smart watches. So now, it’ll be even easier to make your decisions after reading them. But you’ll know more about smart watches after reading this!

Build Quality - We often ignore it & if you’re spending Rs 5K/8K/10K, then the watch should last for about 4-5 years. according to me & so build quality is very important! If you’re buying a budget smart watch, then you’ll obviously get a polycarbonate body & it won’t last that long. But in your budget, try to get a metal body smart watch. Because, it’ll last for more days.

Display - Nowadays, you get 1.3”-1.6” dials in Rs 4-5K watches. A bigger display is very important in a smart watch. Because you consume a lot of information on a smart watch. Like, the weather, activity, heart rate, steps etc. So the bigger the size, the better for you! And just as important is the display type (AMOLED/IPS LCD), but here it comes to cost! If you look at smart watches below Rs 5K, then you’d see IPS LCD displays, so keep an eye on resolutions. The resolution should be good, about 350-450 pixels. If it’s less, it’ll look pixelated. If you look at it in direct sunlight, you won’t be able to see the texts. You won’t have a problem indoors. And it’s a smart watch, you’re obviously going to use it outdoors so do keep an eye on the display. And if possible, choose AMOLED displays, they’re better! And I, personally, have an important point while buying a smart watch!

Battery Life - It’s very important! I have an Apple watch, yet I don’t use it because I have to charge it every day! If I’m spending Rs 30-40K on a smart watch, with only a day’s battery life, it’s of no use! And to charge it every day, you’ll have to take it out & charge. And sleep tracking wouldn’t be possible if you’re charging it overnight. So keep these things in mind. But, the features on Apple watches are not compared with others. So you’ll have to understand that. Let’s talk about Android watches. According to me, there should be a minimum of 10-12 days battery life, it’s very important!

UI - I can’t talk about the Apple watch as it has a beautiful & user friendly but is a closed ecosystem. But that’s about it. Whereas in Android watches, there are different UIs from different brands. There are different watch faces that are developed by themselves. So keep an eye on the user-friendly UI. But, 80-90% of menus are very similar to each other because, at the core it’s an Android watch! And an important thing! Try to avoid Google’s own smartwatch UI, the Android WearOS. Because, you do get more features like the Apple watch, but its battery life is less. Now this is my personal opinion, you can differ from it. But in my experience, I’d recommend avoiding Google WearOS.

Looks - The strap quality is very important, they should be of good quality or else it’s a problem. As you wear it for 24 hours, the strap quality should be good! And nowadays, you can even change the straps of the smartwatch & it’s important. You’ve used a black strap 6-8 months & now can change if you want a different coloured one, So interchangeable straps should be there. And along with that, to change the looks, you must look at watch faces as it’s an important factor. There are some smartwatches with limited 4-6 faces. Watch face is the screen that you see with the design & necessary information. There are many smartwatches where you get 100+/200-300 different watch faces. And you can customize it along with your photo as well. So as a benefit, you can have a new face every day!

App - It’s important as we pair the smartwatch & the phone with the app. And it’s important to know if gives proper information, pairs with the phone, downloading watch faces etc, So do look at it too & keep an eye on the features that it provides. 99% of people buy a smartwatch, but cannot enjoy the watch experience with the app not being good. So the app is equally important!

Features - The basic features & sensors should be available! Like the heart rate & SpO2 sensors, sleep tracking, activities, step counter, different sports modes & in you’d find all of these in 99% of the watches. But these 3-4 things are very important!

GPS Trackers - It’s important if you go outdoors a lot. But many times you don’t need a GPS if you don’t use it outdoors much, so it depends on your activities. There should be an accelerometer for outdoors/indoors. GPS consumes a lot of battery, so there are positives as well negatives to it.

Water Resistance - If you swim or it’s raining around, it should have an IP rating or it should be a water resistant watch. It should be 5ATM or have some IP certification. Else, if you go out in the rain/wear it during a bath, & it gets ruined then what’s the use? There are 2-3 things that depend on you, like I haven’t received any calls on this yet. So a speaker & a microphone is needed if you make/receive calls on a smart watch Else, it’s on you.

Storage - If you listen to a lot of music & want to store mp3 music files then it’s ok otherwise I’d say it’s optional. Do not go for watches with Bluetooth 4.0 now! Like I said before, we’ve already write article on smart watches under Rs 10K, to make your decision easy.